Donna entered the Forman kitchen like she had so many times before. Only Eric was at the table, having a snack. Some things will never change. If only they can get to being back…

"Eric" she said barely above a whisper. Donna leaned over and gave him a kiss. Strong. On the mouth. Hoping like hell she wasn't going to have to explain every detail in her plan to him. Hoping that he would agree.

"what's wrong" he knew that something had been troubling her since her semester break started. At first he thought it was just stress from finals. But it was something more.

"oh god, are you pregnant?"

"no, bite your tongue"

Eric tried not to be relieved, but the tension was broken by their laughter.

"Eric, we have to help them. We can be supportive and just sit here. But we'll watch our two best friends destroy themselves."

"Donna, I'm not sure that we can do anything. This time, it might really be over"

"Did you think that when I went to California?"

"Yeah"

"And what did you do. You had to do something. You knew you had to do something. But it was our friends that helped you get there. To save us. But now, we're all they have left. So if we don't do something, aren't we just saying goodbye to them too. I don't think they can survive without the other one."

"You know this isn't going to be easy"

Donna smiled, knowing that he was going to agree to help reunite Jackie & Hyde. "Nothing worth having ever is"

Eric walked over to his lifelong love and slowly put his arms around her. "I know we have to help them. Ultimately, it's their decision. But they belong together. And I'm worried about them. Hyde's drinking himself into…Bud. And Jackie…"

"When do we start"

Jackie searched her bag for the envelope she knew was in there. She saw the thirty or so pills that she had bought earlier that day. She wasn't sure that she'd have the courage to do this on her own…so she picked up the phone and dialed a number she had memorized so many years ago.

The phone ran in the basement. Hyde had staggered home a few minutes ago. His latest fling was not with him. Fling. Might be too strong of a word he thought. Oh well. It was better than. Oh, who was he kidding, nothing in this was good and he was alone tonight.

He picked up the phone in order to make the infernal ringing stop. He was just about to hang up when he heard a soft voice on the other end. A voice that sent a dagger through his already broken heart.

"Hi"

Hyde closed his eyes. He didn't need this now. Not tonight. He was going to have those dreams again. The ones where they were together. And the ones where she's taken from him. Driven away. Like how he drove her away. Pushed. To save himself. To save her. Loving her from a distance was safer. Miserable, lonely, horrible, but safer. The only one that hurt was himself. And he was used to that.

"what do you want Jackie, I've had a long day"

he heard a sniffle on the other line. Crap, he thought. She's crying. Again. I'm not going to do anything. I've done that.

"Is Donna there?"

"Probably, I just got home and I'm not running all over to find her & Forman doing the deed"

"Okay. Well when you see her, tell her I called"

"Whatever" Talking to her only made things worse.

"Goodbye Steven" She hung up the phone. She knew what she was going to do now. She lined up all of her pills and swallowed them, with a vodka chaser. She arranged everything in her apartment so that it would be easy to remove later. With her body, she thought. She looked at the picture of the two of them together that she had kept by her bed for so many years and placed it next to the note she had written that afternoon. Saying goodbye.

She was starting to get sleepy….and then the pain would be gone

He didn't like her tone. He didn't like the tears AND the tone. Something was different; something was wrong. And it wasn't the normal wrong. It was really wrong. He wondered if he could find Donna. She could see what was going on with her. If she was okay. No, he can't still care. Caring is the problem. Loving is the problem. Oh hell, he wasn't going to get any sleep now as it was. He started up the stairs to find Donna. So she can check on his doll……